Receipt and warrant for Massachusetts state pension payment to Anthony Vassall Digital
Scope and Contents
Receipt from Anthony (Tony) Vassall to Massachusetts for £12 payment in full, acknowledged by his mark, an elongated “T,” on April 21, 1792. The inscription dockets the verso of a warrant signed by Massachusetts Governor John Hancock in Boston on February 7, 1792, ordering state treasurer Alexander Hodgdon to pay Anthony Vassall the sum of £12 for one year’s pension, to be disbursed from the proceeds of the estate of absentee John Vassall of Cambridge.
Dates
- Creation: 1792
Creator
- Vassall, Tony, 1713?-1811 (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Open for research.
Extent
0.03 cubic feet (1 pamphlet binder)Biographical note on Tony Vassall
Tony Vassall (1713?-1811) was an African American farmer and farrier in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Tony was enslaved by Henry Vassall in Cambridge in 1741 and remained enslaved there until the American Revolutionary War, when Henry’s widow, Penelope, along with other members of the Loyalist Vassall family, fled Massachusetts. After he was effectively freed, Tony chose to take Vassall as his surname. Vassall generally used the forename Tony, but contemporary legal records referred to him as Anthony.
He later bought a house and farm in Cambridge and worked as a farrier, providing equine hoof care.
Tony Vassall died in Cambridge on September 2, 1811.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchase, August 2019; accession 2020.042.
Online access
This document has been digitized and is available online.
References
- Batchelder, S. (1917). Notes on Colonel Henry Vassall (1721-1769) his wife Penelope Royall, his house at Cambridge, and his slaves Tony & Darby .. Cambridge, Mass.
- Bell, J.L. (2012) “George Washington’s Headquarters and Home, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site Historic Resource Study.” National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.
- Though Dwelling in a Land of Freedom (U.S. National Park Service). (0AD). Retrieved from https://www.nps.gov/articles/though-dwelling-in-a-land-of-freedom.htm
Processing Information
This item was cataloged by Brooke McManus in September 2019.
Creator
- Vassall, Tony, 1713?-1811 (Person)
- Title
- Vassall, Tony, 1713?-1811. Receipt and warrant for Massachusetts state pension payment to Anthony Vassall, 1792.
- Status
- completed
- Author
- Harvard University Archives
- Date
- September 25, 2019
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hua24019
Repository Details
Part of the Harvard University Archives Repository
Holding nearly four centuries of materials, the Harvard University Archives is the principal repository for the institutional records of Harvard University and the personal archives of Harvard faculty, as well as collections related to students, alumni, Harvard-affiliates and other associated topics. The collections document the intellectual, cultural, administrative and social life of Harvard and the influence of the University as it emerged across the globe.
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